As part of China's efforts to achieve environmental mitigation and green development, three initiatives have recently been released: environmental alert system, food delivery pollution reduction policy, and pollutant discharge caps.

Environment Control and Life Support Overview. (image: NASA)

Environmental Alert System

China has recently built an alert system to monitor regional environmental and resource capacity conditions, and punish those responsible for environmental damage.

The new system divides environmental capacity conditions into three levels: overloading, near overloading and not overloading.

Regions with serious environmental and resource capacity overloading will not be allowed to start new projects, according to a document issued by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council.

​Meanwhile, based on actual resources or environmental losses, regions facing capacity overloading will be issued with a red or orange alert, while regions close to capacity overloading will be issued with a yellow or blue alert. Regions whose environmental capacities are without excessive pollution and resource loss will be labeled green non-alert zones.

For red-alert areas, government authorities will stop granting approval on relevant projects, while enterprises causing severe environmental and resource destruction will face punishment, including fines, production restrictions and shutdowns.Deadlines will be set for these regions to improve local environmental capacity conditions to below the red-alert level.Individuals, such as owners of polluting enterprises or those in local authorities with slack supervision, will be held accountable for the environmental damage and even be prosecuted for criminal liability.

​The government will also work to provide compensation to green non-alert zones for their ecological protection efforts and development rights, as well as increasing green financing support.

The document also put forward detailed management measures for specific fields such as water resources, land resources and the marine environment. as well as action plans to fight air, water and soil pollution.

The takeout sector has seen explosive growth due to easy internet access and efficient delivery in recent years, resulting in mass environmental damage with the widespread use of non-biodegradable plastic bags and boxes.

Data released by the China Internet Network Information Center show that between January and July in 2017, 295 million people in China ordered takeout via the internet, 2.6 times increase from 114 million in December 2015. The number is expected to reach 345 million in 2018, as suggested by Jiang Junxian, head of the China Cuisine Association.

​​According to calculations by the Green Volunteer League, a Chongqing-based NGO, if every takeout included 1.5 pairs of chopsticks (the average number used) and a major platform received 13 million orders in a day, more than 1.95 million pairs of chopsticks would be required to meet demand. That scenario would see more than 6,700 trees being felled, resulting in the destruction of forest ecosystems and eco-degradation.

Image: www.itnpc.com

To address this issue, the China Environmental Protection Foundation, the China Cuisine Association, Meituan and about 100 food producers announced the formation of an organization to promote environmentally friendly takeout services.

Major takeout platforms including Meituan and ele.me pledged to upgrade its takeout app to provide customers with the option of ordering food in nonplastic packaging and without chopsticks, spoons or napkins.

China has recently announced a government-issued permit system for both industrial enterprises and public institutions to regulate their discharges. As part of a pilot plan approved by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, which runs to 2020, this move is seen as a vital step towards controlling pollution and improve air, water and soil quality, covering sectors such as education, science, culture, health and the media.

The new permit sets a ceiling on how much waste an enterprise can discharge into the atmosphere or waterways over a certain period - is part of wider efforts by the central government to build a strict, integrated system that controls pollution nationwide.

Enterprises that apply but fail to qualify for a permit will still be monitored by local environmental protection authorities to prevent pollution, the ministry said.

Image: EPA

​This came after the State Council, China's cabinet, released a plan in November 2016 to establish a national platform in 2017 to manage information related to these permits. By 2020, pollutant discharges in fixed locations must match the exact amount stipulated on the company's permit, while the data platform must effectively make enterprises and public institutions fulfill their responsibilities in pollution control, according to the plan.​Authorities have not specified the potential punishments for rule-breakers, although high-profile environmental inspections in recent years have resulted in companies being temporarily or permanently closed down for excessive discharges or lax waste management.